I went to New York yesterday to see two shows. The first, Attachment, was an exhibition of photos by renowned Hungarian photographer Peter Korniss, at the Hungarian Cultural Center. In breathtaking black and white photos, Korniss has documented the demise of traditional peasant life in Hungary and Transylvania. When he started taking these photos, in the late 1960's, he sometimes felt transported back 100 years. He was stunned to discover that in parts of Hungary and Transylvania peasant culture was alive and intact. That has now, of course, all changed. Korniss has, however, left a profound interpretation of that culture. The photo shown in the announcement card above is of a tired shepherd, taking a rest in the field. The Hungarian Cultural Center is open only on weekdays. The show ends on June 15.
Uptown at the Adam Baumgold gallery it was a solo show by Cyrilla Mozenter, a contemporary artist who works in industrial felt. Called warm snow, the show includes new sculptures, hangings, and drawings, as well as some earlier sculptural works. It's a small show and simply wonderful. The polar bear piece shown above is of stitched industrial felt. Mozenter uses no armature in her sculptures, nothing but felt and thread. The show ends on June 26.
